Seniors savor time afloat: they say youth is wasted on the young. This seems to be especially true for those past age 70 and even 80 who are still boating with as much gusto as 20-year-olds

Boat/US Magazine, March, 2005 by Elaine Dickinson

They have a big advantage over the young: experience, confidence, more time and a deeper appreciation of how special the boating life is. While many dread the day when they must "swallow the anchor" and give up boating, for growing numbers of our aging population the passion for boating and fishing only grows with the years.

A recent survey of active boaters 70 and older by Boat U.S. found that 80% of the respondents spent well above average time on the water at 30 or more days a year. They had an average of 50 years' experience in boating and their average age was 76. Remarkably, some 60% regularly cruised 100 miles or more from their home ports.

Modern technology has gone a long way in making it easier for older people to stay active in boating, particularly innovations like autopilot, GPS, roller-furling, low maintenance fiberglass, more reliable engines and bow thrusters.

To learn more from this group, BoatU.S. caught up with some senior skippers to find out how and why boating is still their passion.

Mack Maloney

After a half-century-plus immersed in the boating life, Elbert S. "Mack" Maloney is sure of one thing: he still has no desire to sail across an ocean. Actually, staying well within sight of land is just fine with him.

It's ironic that the man who "wrote the book" on boat handling for generations of cruisers, many of whom probably keep a copy of Chapman Piloting & Seamanship securely stashed on board as they cruise around the world, finds the greatest enjoyment in the simple, close-to-home pleasures of boating. A sunset cruise up the Intracoastal Waterway near his home in Pompano, FL, and a cocktail while at anchor are all Maloney and his wife, Florine, need for a getaway.

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And it's not because Maloney is now 85 years old. He's always been that way.

"You go out on the water to relax and enjoy life; speed is so unnecessary," he says. "Boating should not be done fast. That's why I have an eight-knot trawler."

One would think that by 85, the ex-Marine colonel, author and editor would be long retired, but in a recent conversation, Maloney seems to have the exact same problem as boat owners who are decades younger: too busy with work to get in enough quality time on the boat, in his case a 38-foot Present Leeway.

"I'm active as I can be with time constraints," he explained. "I have plenty of work, but it's flexible. It's going to doctor's appointments that gets in the way of boating.

"Retirement? I tried it once, no, twice, he grumbled. "I'm just not the type to sit in a rocking chair."

The Maloneys usually take off on their boat for four to five days at a time each month, sometimes just staying at anchor. "I try to get away from the darned computer but then again, I take one with me," Maloney said. He's already working on the 65th edition of Chapman's, as well as providing corrections and updates to Waterway Guide's Southern Edition, plus working as an expert witness in boating related court cases. During the fall rash of hurricanes, Maloney didn't call his marina or ask anyone for help--he prepared the boat himself, motored to a safe harbor in North Miami Beach.

Maloney started boating around 1954 and has owned everything from small sailboats to a 47-foot Chris Craft which he lived on. He served 28 years in the U.S. Marine Corps specializing in communications and electronics, before he became a national boating expert. Both the U.S. Power Squadrons and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary education programs greatly benefited from the work Maloney did for them. And, oh yes, back in the 1960s when he was living in Washington, DC, he helped two young men organize a new boating group called BoatU.S. Maloney served for many years as chairman of the BoatU.S. National Advisory Council.

Over the years, Maloney has cruised extensively in the Bahamas, ICW, Chesapeake Bay and up the coast to Maine, and the New York and Canadian canal systems. The deep ocean holds no special allure for him: "It's a lot of days just looking at water. To me it's not as interesting as going up the ICW or the Caloosahatchie River."

Now boating in another century, Maloney said he is more careful while moving and working around the boat and takes his time; he recognizes that his balance and eyesight might not be as good now.

He sees the biggest change to boating in electronics. He still does all his own boat maintenance. Ironically, diesel engines are almost exactly the same as they were when he first started cruising, he said. "If I had to pay 16 cents a gallon for diesel fuel, I was upset," he chuckled. "I think fewer people are doing extended cruising now because of the cost of fuel," he said.

Maloney's best advice: "Slow down and hang in there as long as you can. It's a way of life like no other."

Kay Miller

Eight years ago, Kay Miller decided to give herself a birthday present--a lovely 38-foot Catalina sailboat. In fact, she liked it so much she moved on board--at age 75.

Now 83, Miller has no plans to give up the sailing lifestyle she's enjoyed at Marina del Rey in southern California. "Gosh, why would I," she asks. "I'm having too much fun."